English UK is delighted to welcome its newest geographical sub-group, English UK Northern Ireland.

The group was formed in early 2012 with all six English UK members in Northern Ireland as members: International House Belfast, Foyle Language School, North West Academy, Queens INTO, the University of Ulster and Belfast Metropolitan College.

Founder member Paul McMullan, principal of IH Belfast, said: "It made sense to form English UK NI as it gives us much more power as an active body in approaching and working with our tourist and other organisations.

"What we're trying to do is pull together not only the English UK NI members but the many other bodies, government and otherwise, involved with tourism and inward investment. We want to be working together to put NI on the map," he said.

The group plans to create a website as soon as possible as well as working together to organise inbound familiarisation trips for agents. It also intends to invite tourism and investment groups to its regular meetings.

Mr McMullan said there were many factors making Northern Ireland an excellent destination for EL students, including comparatively low costs, safety, and the fact that does not have high numbers of international students already.

"It's a very exciting time to come to Northern Ireland as it's really going from strength to strength," he said. "Last year we had the MTV awards, this year there's the opening of the new MAC arts centre and the Titanic exhibition."

Notes to Editors

1. English UK is the world's leading language teaching association, with more than 450 accredited centres in membership. It covers university and further education college language departments, international study centres in independent schools, educational trusts and charities, and private sector colleges. English UK is a UK registered charity (www.englishuk.com).  The English language sector is worth £2.5 billion in foreign earnings to the UK each year.
2. For further information on English UK NI contact Paul McMullan at paul@ihbelfast.com.
3. The other specialist and geographical sub-groups are Business English UK, Work Experience UK, Young Learners English UK, English UK Central, English UK London, English UK North, English UK South West and English UK Scotland. For more details see www.englishuk.com/en/members/special-interest-groups/business-english-uk.